Lowered antioxidant status of red blood cells in post-parturient haemoglobinuria of buffaloes.

The antioxidant status of the red blood cells of buffaloes (n = 20) suffering from post-parturient haemoglobinuria (PPH) was assessed by comparing their tocopherol (vitamin E) and reduced glutathione contents with those of red blood cells from apparently healthy buffaloes (n = 20). The red cell tocopherol content of the diseased buffaloes (1.76 +/- 0.11 micrograms/ml) was significantly (p < 0.01) lower than that of healthy buffaloes (2.45 +/- 0.14 micrograms/ml). This may be the first report comparing the concentration of tocopherol in the red blood cells of buffaloes suffering from PPH and apparently healthy buffaloes. There was a drastic reduction in the reduced glutathione content in the red cells of haemoglobinuric buffaloes (23.74 +/- 2.86 mg%) compared to the healthy control buffaloes (73.71 +/- 3.87 mg%). The diseased buffaloes also exhibited severe hypophosphataemia. These findings suggest that an impaired or insufficient antioxidant potential of the red blood cells in this disease in buffaloes is associated with the phosphorus deficiency.